On 0pening day, I coined the word “Nullpen” to describe what happened when the Cubs had a lead and the bullpen gave it away. On day two of the Theo Epstein era, the results weren’t any better.
This time Kerry Wood took the loss, and Carlos Marmol wasn’t able to put out the fire in the eighth inning, either. I guess Wood and Marmol are busy putting the “fire” into “firemen.”
Two games, two blown leads and two losses that can be laid at the feet of our brutal nullpen tag team. I think calling them the “Terrible Two” is fitting, because in a tight race down the stretch — I’m dreaming here, but stay with me — there’s no way to get these two games back.
Perhaps we’ll have forgotten about these two losses by September, but there they are in the loss column. Proof that trading Sean Marshall — which will hopefully pay off down the road somewhere — seems to have hobbled the Cubs’ ability to hold leads this season.
Take issue with this claim if you want to, but don’t look for any other cause for these two losses. There isn’t any to be found.